Time to Add the Smartphone and Tablet to the Doctor's Black Bag

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/14/12 --
Technology is revolutionizing healthcare as medical professionals adopt cloud technologies and mobile apps to help them be more efficient in and out of the office. In fact, according to GlobalData, the mobile health technology market is expected to exceed $8 billion by 2018. Among these solutions, communications apps play a key role in helping medical professionals to stay in touch with patients and colleagues and exchange vital information on the move.

Along with the benefits, this new "connectedness" can also pose challenges for medical professionals. According to a study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research(1) physicians are interrupted nearly five times an hour by phone calls, emails and face-to-face interactions.

eFax®, a provider of online fax services and eVoice®, a virtual phone service -- both brands of j2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: JCOM) -- understand that medical professionals need tools that help them efficiently manage the demands of their jobs without compromising care.

"As a clinical psychiatrist and the managing director of four treatment centers, I realized that we needed an affordable and reliable phone solution that would manage all incoming calls in an efficient manner," said Dr. Pamela O'Guinn, clinical psychiatrist and executive medical director of New Life Christian Wellness Center. "With eVoice, I found a service that not only fit my budget but one that also keeps communication between our offices and patients streamlined and professional."

To manage patient and staff communications on the go, here are several tips from eVoice and eFax:

1) Record and transcribe your phone calls - Consulting with another medical professional, getting test results or following up with a patient all require getting the details right. When you're on the phone and on the go, there's no need to rely on your memory or some quickly jotted notes. With the push of a button, virtual phone systems can record calls and transcribe the conversation so that you have accurate details, avoiding miscommunication and potential errors.

2) Take the pain out of being on hold - Waiting on hold can test even the most patient of patients. A virtual phone system is the answer. Easy to follow menus help callers get to the right person efficiently. Call screening allows you to hear the name of the person calling so you can quickly decide to pick up, transfer the call, or send it to voicemail, without keeping callers on an endless hold. And if you need to refer the patient to another medical provider or facility, use call transfer to route calls directly to another extension or phone number.

3) Reduce your phone bill with mobile apps - With limits on most phone and data plans, staying connected can lead to mobile phone bill shock. A virtual phone system with a VoIP app can transfer calls from your network carrier to the Internet whenever WiFi is available, drastically reducing the number of minutes used in every billing cycle and keeping mobile costs at a minimum. Leveraging these technologies also helps medical professionals make and take calls in service dead zones.

4) Use your mobile phone's camera as a fax machine - Forget to send that fax before heading home? Pull the document out of your bag and point, shoot and fax using a mobile fax app. Using your smartphone or tablet's camera, you can send important papers to staff, pharmacies, or patients without having to head back into the office or delay until tomorrow.

5) Sign documents online, STAT - If you're away from the office, you can still sign and return urgent faxes using your mobile fax application. With only your smartphone, tablet or notebook you can drop a digitized signature onto an online fax. There is no scrambling to print, sign and scan documents and, with a digitized signature, the "paperless" documents can then be returned or forwarded immediately via email or fax.

6) Leverage the cloud when you're on call - Cloud-based phone and fax systems make it easy for busy medical professionals to be on call. A cloud-based phone system provides a phone number that routes to wherever you are -- cell phone, home or office -- 24/7. An online fax service delivers your faxes to your email, wherever you are. And archived faxes can be easily searched by using names, topics or other keywords to find a specific document or group of documents in a hurry.

"Since we conduct research through clinical trials, a lot of paperwork is involved and we process many confidential documents from doctors. However, doctors and their staff would take a long time to fax signed forms back to us or the fax would get misplaced on the fax machine," said Susan Doleman, associate director of BioVex, a biotechnology company that develops treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. "After adopting eFax, we noticed that more doctors return their documents on time and in an easily searchable central repository, which allows us to complete clinical trials in a cost effective and timely manner. The process is more productive than ever when both parties can send and scan documents instantly using eFax."

About eFaxeFax is a brand and registered trademark of j2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: JCOM). Individuals and small businesses can learn more about sending and receiving faxes online at www.efax.com. For medium to large businesses with 10 to 10,000 employees or high volume faxing needs, more information is available at www.efaxcorporate.com.

About eVoiceeVoice is a brand service and trademark of j2 Global (NASDAQ: JCOM). eVoice, one of the industry's leading virtual phone services, offers a wide selection of local or toll-free numbers and is the only phone service of its type to offer personalized U.S.-based VIP setup and support for new accounts. eVoice is online at www.evoice.com.